The Picnic Incident
by Peach Wookiee
Summary: For RGZ Archer. The gang decides to have a fun picnic together which results in an unfair detention and an attempted breakout from detention. Will the gang succeed or epically fail? Another story by Peach Wookiee and 15animefreak15. Chapter 4 up! COMPLETE
1. A Seemingly Good Idea

Chapter I: A Seemingly Good Idea

_Hello, GX believers and welcome to a whacked out comedy by Peach Wookiee and 15animefreak15! This was born of an idea by RGZ Archer, who wanted to see the "incident" the gang spoke of in Summer Love, Summer Fears. We sincerely hope we live up to expectations with this one, Archer. And we hope all of you love it, too._

_Okay…so the usual legal stuff… No, we don't own GX. Seriously. We don't. We also own nothing from Frito-Lay, Doritos or any soda companies. We wish we did. We also don't own Star Trek. That belongs to Paramount Pictures and the Roddenberrys. And we don't own any songs of Justin Timberlake's. We do however own Annie, Violet, Rosa and this story and our version of the Yugi-verse. _

_Authors' note: Aster Phoenix might seem a little OOC here as he actually decides to hang with the rest of the group instead of being like Batman and being alone. So we hope you don't mind the way he is too much. This story will also explain why Aster's less standoffish in "Nightmare Resurrection." Thank you._

It was an unseasonably warm October afternoon at Duel Academy in the year 2017. This particular school had a reputation for the unusual being the usual, but today was actually a normal day. No one was trying to kill or control the students, there was no vortex opening up to suck the school into an alternate dimension and there was no other discernable threat. In fact, Jaden Yuki, a brown haired, brown-eyed boy with a penchant for saving the world from such threats, had done so again two weeks previously when the school had gone on a field trip to Domino City. And so today, said boy was sitting under what he'd dubbed his "chilling tree," and thinking of ways to relax with his friends.

"Guys...short of a prank on Dr. Crowler, can we think of something we can do to chill?" he asked.

Atticus Rhodes, a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy wearing a Hawaiian shirt instead of his usual Obelisk Blue uniform jacket, strummed the ukulele he was holding. "Well, we could—"

"No." The person who had interrupted him was Alexis Rhodes, a blonde, hazel-eyed girl.

Atticus blinked. "But Lexi, I didn't even—"

"I already know what you're going to say. And we're not doing it, Atty," she interrupted yet again, giving him a hard glare. He sweat-dropped.

"Uh," Annie Hanson, a shy Obelisk girl with brown hair and big blue eyes asked curiously, "Atticus, what did you do?"

Atticus opened his mouth to answer, but his sister answered for him. "Nothing, yet. But I know he was going to say we should have a karaoke party," she explained, arms crossed over her chest.

Syrus blinked. "Karaoke party?"

"Oh, please no," Chazz Princeton, a boy with unruly raven hair and gray eyes, and wearing a black trench coat instead of a bright red blazer that was the Slifer Red uniform, groaned softly.

Syrus Truesdale, a boy with baby blue hair and silver eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses, blinked. "Is that even allowed??" he asked to no one in particular.

Bastion Misawa, a very smart Ra Yellow boy who was tall and had gray eyes and dark hair that almost seemed gray in some lights answered, "Yes, actually, but only on rare occasions..."

On one of those rare occasions, it should be mentioned, Atticus had chosen to sing Justin Timberlake's "Bringing Sexy Back." It had led to a horrific situation...for Atticus. The charming teen had thought he'd been swarmed with fan girls before. But that was nothing compared to the riot that practically occurred. Needless to say, he barely made it out of the crowd in one piece, and somehow he'd had everything but his pants taken by his "fan girls."

"If we have another one of those special occasions, Atticus, you might just get killed," Jaden said, sweat-dropping.

Atticus grinned sheepishly, while his sister just sighed. "He had to go into hiding for almost a week after that. Which is why we're NOT doing it again," she stated.

Violet Haverbrook, a hyper-active girl with bright, green eyes and purple hair pulled back into a ponytail, leaned against the tree. "Well, it's pretty nice outside. Why don't we do something out here?"

Tyson Hassleberry, known at this time to the group simply by his surname, nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea, Private Violet. Rosa, what do you think?" the muscular Ra boy in the cut-off vest and wearing dreadlocks and a dinosaur bandana on his head asked.

Rosa Jimenez, an Obelisk student with chocolate brown eyes and ruddy brown hair who had come to the school all the way from Spain, smiled. "A wonderful idea! This is the perfect weather for a picnic," the toned Obelisk girl answered.

Zane Truesdale, a boy with dark hair and gray eyes, dressed in a light sweater and jeans as he was no longer a student at Duel Academy, nodded thoughtfully. "That might be good."

"How does a picnic sound to everyone?" Syrus asked, smiling.

Everyone looked at each other and might've just agreed, but not Jaden. He got a happy look on his face, his eyes got big and then... "THAT'S GREAT!" he shouted happily.

Half of the group—mostly those unused to Jaden's behavior—fell back at the outburst. Of course anything including food would get him excited. Alexis sighed. "Jay, don't get too excited and go overboard, all right?" she asked.

"I think that's normal for Jaden," Annie observed softly. "Right...Sy?" she asked shyly. No one but Violet, Rosa and Alexis knew, at least as far as Annie knew, realized that the Obelisk girl with the curvy figure harbored feelings for the small bluenette Ra boy. Or perhaps Annie kidded herself. After all, open secrets were a common thing at the school.

Syrus blinked and looked over at her, barely suppressing a nervous blush. "Uh, yeah, Annie. Jay does get excited a lot," he mumbled. Little did Annie know that Syrus had a crush on her, but was just too shy to even come close to admitting it.

There were times both of them suspected the other's feelings, but right now, it didn't matter. "I thought as much," she answered, flushing slightly and hoping she didn't faint.

"A picnic sounds excellent. I'd...actually fancy doing that. I think I need a break from studying," Bastion admitted.

Violet walked over and dropped down beside him, grinning. "That, Bastion, is an understatement. You were in your room all day yesterday and would have been today too if I didn't drag you out!" she quipped.

Bastion flushed. "Soldier, you need a break!" Hassleberry added.

"Yeah, Bastion. Remember 'The Best of Both Worlds,' Part One?" Annie asked, reminding him of an episode of one of their shared favorite Star Trek shows.

"Oh, yes, Commander Shelby," he answered.

Syrus blinked. "Commander who?"

"She was on one of the Star Trek shows, Syrus," Bastion explained. "I think the episode just might scare you..."

Syrus sweat-dropped at that. "Really?"

"Yes...space zombies...Right, Annie?"

"Yeah," Annie answered, blushing.

"Space zombies? That sounds awesome!" Atticus stated with a broad grin. Alexis sighed.

"Not really, Atticus," Jaden said with a shiver. "I saw the movie with those aliens last week, and I almost wet my pants!" Annie and Bastion sweat-dropped.

"It wasn't that scary, Jaden," Bastion said, a little embarrassed.

"Hey, if it made Jaden, the guy who faced Kagemaru and the Sacred Beasts, nearly pee his pants....then I'd say that's pretty scary," Violet stated matter-of-factly.

"But it was pretend-scary, Violet," Annie said. "Remember when I made you sit through Star Trek: First Contact?"

Violet blinked. "Oh yeah. I remember that...it wasn't all that scary at all."

"Are you kidding?! That part when they put the mechanical arm on that guy...that was gross! And then when they got that guy like a vampire...that was freaky!" Jaden yelped.

Everyone looked at Jaden with different expressions. Syrus was thinking that did sound pretty scary, while Violet looked surprised at how scared Jaden was. Alexis was looking at Jaden incredulously, while her brother simply blinked in confusion. Bastion groaned softly. Annie flushed, Chazz snickered and Hassleberry looked puzzled.

"Uh...ain't that the movie with the robot people, Private Annie?" Hassleberry asked.

"Yeah, that's the one. I guess I've watched it so much, I don't think it's scary."

"IT IS!" Jaden yelped.

"Sarge, it ain't that scary," Tyson said, "with all due respect..."

"Well, we're all scared of something, right? Maybe Jay's scared of sci-fi movies," Violet offered with a shrug.

"I'm just scared of that one," Jaden, the stopper of psychopaths and vampires, muttered.

Alexis sighed and sweat-dropped. "Well, at least you weren't too scared to fight all of those crazy bad guys we came across."

"Yeah," Jaden answered, sweat-dropping and smiling sheepishly. "So what were we talking about?"

"How in heaven's name do you pass classes?" Bastion wondered aloud.

"We're talking about a picnic," Zane groaned.

"So, since everyone likes that idea, we need to pick where to have it," Violet said.

"Okay...hmmm...how about near the chilling tree?" Jaden suggested, gesturing at the big tree.

"Sounds like a great place to me! Now we just need the food!" Atticus replied with a grin.

"I can help with that!" Annie smiled.

"Me too!" Violet cheered.

"So can I," Rosa added, smiling.

"I can help with KP duty," Hassleberry offered. "I can cook a little...And I can keep the Sarge from raidin' the provisions!"

"HEY!" Jaden yelped.

Alexis sighed. "Jay, we'd like to save the food for the picnic, okay? And the same goes for you, Atty," she growled, looking at her brother. He sweat-dropped.

Chazz smirked. "Oh like you didn't go through the caramel corn last week, Chazz?" Jaden asked with a grin.

"SLACKER!!!" And a small chase ensued between the two Slifer boys.

"Every time," Annie sighed.

Alexis groaned. "Those two can't be together for ten minutes without this happening," she muttered, standing. As the two boys passed the group again, Alexis reached out and caught each of them by the backs of their blazers. "Jay...Chazz..."she growled in a well-known warning tone.

"He started it!" Chazz whined. "It's not my fault he's a doofus, Lexi. What you see in him..."

Alexis got the lightest of blushes, then a vein popped out on her forehead. "Chazz, Jay is NOT a doofus and I have no idea what you're talking about!!" she yelled, punching the black-haired boy on the head.

"OUCH! Atticus, call her off!" Chazz pleaded.

Atticus opened his mouth to speak, but promptly sweat-dropped and closed it at the glare he received from his sister. "Sorry, Chazz, you're on your own," he muttered. Luckily, Alexis simply huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, sitting back down.

"Lex, it's okay," Jaden soothed. "I can be a doofus sometimes...And..." He wasn't about to let on that he was crazy about the Obelisk girl, so he said, "And...you see me as a friend."

Alexis looked at him, and smiled a little. "Right...so, er, back to the topic of the picnic..." She was his friend, but inside she wished they could be more than that.

"So...sandwiches?" Zane asked. "Make sure to load them with lots of spinach," he grinned wickedly at his little brother.

Syrus sent his brother a glare, though all it really did was make him look cuter. "No way, that stuff is gross! And who's ever heard of spinach on a sandwich, anyway?"

"I made a roast beef with spinach once," Annie said shyly.

Syrus blinked and looked over at her, blushing a little. "O-Oh, well, it might taste good with that...I mean, uh," he murmured.

"It's okay...I can eat weird stuff sometimes," Annie stammered. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' she thought, hating that she'd made the Ra boy uncomfortable. Syrus, too, was at a loss, feeling he'd made Annie look strange.

Luckily, Violet broke into the conversation. "Hey, weird stuff can taste awesome sometimes! Like tuna salad and apples!"

"Eww!" Chazz yelped.

"That's not bad," Bastion countered.

"You'll never know 'til you try it, Chazzy!" Violet said with a grin.

"Then I'll never know..."

"Wuss," Hassleberry muttered.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY, DINO-BOY?!"

Rosa sent Chazz a fiery warning glare. "You heard what he said just fine!" she growled, misinterpreting Chazz's meaning.

"I heard him; I just wanted to confirm he'd insulted me!" Chazz growled. Perhaps growling at Rosa wasn't wise.

Rosa, like anyone in her family, took that growl as more than just a tone. She jumped to her feet and rolled up her sleeve. "Is that a challenge, Senor Princeton?!" One could practically see the flames in her chocolate brown eyes.

And Chazz predictably felt that today wasn't a good day to die. "Uh...no, ma'am," he answered, nearly crouching.

Rosa was actually a little disappointed; she liked some action now and then. None the less, she dropped back down beside Hassleberry and nodded. "Then next time, do not speak in such a manner."

"Okay, okay...geez," the black-clad Slifer boy groaned.

"Okay, so...sandwiches, most with no spinach," Zane said. "How about chips?"

"Yeah! Some regular with dip and some barbecue!" Atticus exclaimed excitedly.

"Yuck, barbeque!" Jaden groaned. "That tastes nasty!"

"Only the ones with more kick than sweetness if you ask me. But you don't have to eat the barbecue ones, Jay," Violet said.

"All the ones I've had don't taste right," he explained.

"Then you can have the regular. Or does anyone else have a certain type we should bring too?" Alexis asked.

"I'd like some plain, unadulterated potato chips, please," Bastion said.

"That sounds good to me," Annie added. "And nacho cheese Doritos!"

"And Fritos!" Chazz added.

"And some chips in Salt 'n' Vinegar flavor," Syrus added, smiling.

"Okay...good idea," Zane said, remembering his brother's liking for those chips. "How about baked beans?"

Atticus grinned. "Beans, beans, they're good for your heart! The more you eat, the more you—"

"Don't even, Atty!" Alexis growled, punching him on the head.

"Isn't it 'Beans, beans, the musical fruit; the more you eat, the more you..." Jaden began, slightly confused.

"Jaden...that's disgusting and juvenile," Bastion stated, cutting him off.

"Okay...moving on," Zane said, actually sweat-dropping, "what else?"

"We need drinks!" Violet answered, grinning.

"Okay...how about Jolt Cola?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, lord," Zane groaned.

"Oh, that stuff makes you run on walls!" Violet replied excitedly, grinning.

"Uh...let's try something else. That stuff is dangerous for you," Annie explained. The truth was that the idea of Jaden and Violet on that stuff was scarier than the thought of being assimilated by the Borg, the Star Trek alien race Jaden seemed scared of.

Both teens looked a bit disappointed. "How about some Coke and maybe some juice?" Alexis offered.

"And some Sprite or Sierra Mist would be nice," Jaden said, remembering Sy liked the stuff.

"Yeah. Anything else?" Syrus asked.

"Mountain Dew!" Violet answered.

"Mountain Dew? That's your favorite, isn't it, Violet?" Bastion asked.

The purple-haired girl nodded. "Yup! And it has the most sugar too!" That was probably one of the reasons it was her favorite.

"Uh...let's pack some root beer too," Annie suggested.

"All right!" Hassleberry whooped.

Luckily, most of those popular sodas had spread to other countries, so Rosa knew what they were. That didn't mean she knew what they tasted like, and Hassleberry's reaction intrigued her. "This...'root beer'...is it bien?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's good, darlin', and Annie brought the best to the island! You got that with you?" he asked.

"Yup," the dark-haired, pale girl answered with a grin. "I'm glad to share!"

"Hooray! Root beer tastes the best when it's the best kind!" Violet said happily.

"Okay...how about potato salad?" Bastion suggested.

"That's a basic picnic food to have. Good idea," Alexis replied.

"And for dessert...how about I make some chocolate pudding?" Violet asked with a grin.

"Oh, that sounds great!" Jaden grinned. "Let's do it!"

"Do what?" asked a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see the white-blonde blue-eyed Aster Phoenix sauntering up to them in his customary dove-gray suit.

"Hey, Aster!" Jaden greeted. "What's up?"

"Not much," the other boy answered. There was something in his walk and expression that indicated something wasn't right with him. It was subtle, but the group could tell something was off with the white-blonde Pro League duelist.

"We were just talking about having a picnic," Atticus said, grinning.

"A picnic? Sounds interesting," Aster responded.

"Well, would you like to join us?" Annie asked, steeling herself for a refusal, as Aster tended to be fairly standoffish.

"There'll be plenty of food!" Violet added.

To everyone's surprise—except, of course, for Jaden—Aster nodded. "Okay...I'm in. When are we having the picnic?"

Several pairs of eyes blinked. "I knew we'd forgotten something," Alexis muttered. They'd never said a time.

"How about tomorrow at noon?" Zane suggested.

"Lunch time would be a good time," Syrus said in agreement.

"Okay...So is noon all right, Aster?" Jaden asked.

"Sure...sounds good," the white-blonde answered a bit dully. Alexis exchanged a curious glance with Annie; they'd both caught that.

"Aster, is...everything okay?" Annie tried.

"Yeah...I guess..."

"You sure?" Alexis probed gently.

"Yeah...I just have stuff on my mind," Aster answered quietly.

"Okay. Well, see you tomorrow, then..."

"Um...is...it all right if I just hang out?" Aster wondered.

That surprised the teens even more than when he accepted their offer. "Uh...sure?" Syrus replied.

"Thanks," the other boy said.

"You're always welcome to hang with us, Aster," Jaden said, grinning.

"Yup. Always room for one more," Violet added happily.

"Cool," Aster said, sitting down on the grass. He'd just found out that the man who had been his guardian for the past ten years may have murdered his father. So he needed human contact. These kids might not be like him, but they were good people. Problem was, Aster knew nothing really about them, and they knew nothing about him. _Well, it's as good a time as any to find out about them,_ he reflected as he sat on the grass.

"So," Alexis tried, an awkward silence having appeared since no one was sure what to say.

"Hey...does anybody like good steak?" Aster tried. He thought he might offer something for the picnic.

"Oh, I do! What's your favorite kind?" Violet asked.

"I love steak...specifically filet mignon," Aster mentioned. "Would it be okay if I brought enough for everyone for the picnic?"

Syrus's eyes widened. "Wouldn't that be really expensive?"

"Uh...it's okay...I have a big supply," Aster answered. "No big deal..."

"Um...what do you guys think?" Alexis asked the others.

"Go meat!" Hassleberry grinned happily.

"Cool," Jaden added.

"Phoenix...okay," Chazz asserted.

"That sounds wonderful," Annie added.

Violet grinned. "Sounds great to me!"

"Yeah, sounds good," Syrus said.

"Muy bien," Rosa added.

"Definitely!" Atticus said.

"That sounds good, Aster," Zane added, looking at his former adversary. "Why, though?"

"I...just feel like doing this, okay?" Aster answered calmly. Everyone could tell that wasn't the real reason, but knew it wasn't best to shove. If Aster wanted to talk about it, he'd bring it up when he was ready.

"That's cool," Jaden said. "So...let's just hang out...Aster...feel like dueling?"

"No thanks...I don't feel like that right now...I just want to veg." Several eyebrows raised at this.

"You actually wanna sit around and do nothing?" Violet asked for everyone.

"Yeah. I think it's good to do that sometimes. Has anyone ever been to a sauna?" Aster asked with a little more pep, trying to avoid being probed.

"I've been to one once," Alexis answered.

"Me, too," Annie added. "Mom, Dad, Bobby and I went to Minnesota once and did the whole Scandinavian thing. We went into a hot tub out in the cold weather and then straight to a sauna. Very invigorating..."

"I just went to one with our mom once," Alexis admitted.

"I went to one last year...I'd just finished up a project and I needed to unwind," Aster explained with a light smile.

"You're fairly advanced, aren't you, Aster?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Aster answered casually.

"Advanced as in how, Bastion?" Violet asked curiously.

"School. He excels at every sport, tends to be top in his class..."

"Not at math; you kick my butt, Bastion."

"Distinction noted, but rumor has it you've taken college courses..."

"True...but I'm not ready to graduate..."

"Wow...Aster, I didn't know all that. I thought you were just a pro duelist," Syrus said.

"I had a lot of time to study," Aster said. "Kyle made sure of that."

"Kyle?" Alexis asked curiously.

"Kyle Jables. You'd know him better as the D...he was the one who adopted me after my dad..." Aster trailed off. Jaden, usually the one to bluntly probe had a realization that he'd better keep his mouth shut.

The others did the same, and Alexis asked a different question. "I didn't know you were the D's adopted son."

"He's your pappy?" Hassleberry asked.

"Yeah...he took me in," Aster answered. He then stood up. "Guys, I'll meet up with you later, okay? I forgot to do something."

"Sure, Aster. See ya," Atty said, the others giving similar goodbyes. It was obvious that Aster was lying, but no one said anything. Aster headed off, grateful they hadn't probed further. He wouldn't tell them all yet what had occurred, and as soon as he returned to his new room in Obelisk, he locked the door and had a good cry. Many people would be surprised to see the great Aster Phoenix cry, but he was just as human as anyone else, and today, he'd reached the limit of what he could endure emotionally.

Back at the chilling tree, Jaden sighed. "He's sad about something."

"I think we all noticed that. But he obviously doesn't feel comfortable with telling us yet," Alexis replied, frowning.

"Who wants to tell you guys anything?" Chazz groaned. He wasn't intending to be mean with this. "I mean...it's not like you can do much..."

"But everyone needs someone to talk to. Does he have anyone he can do that with?" Syrus asked to no one in particular.

Annie was quiet for a minute. "I don't think he does," she answered finally. "He and Sartorius are still patching things up, but after what happened...I don't think Aster is ready to trust him again..."

"Then he needs someone to talk to. Maybe he's trying to get to know us better so that we can be those people," Violet offered.

"Yeah, that'd be good if he'd start to trust us...and I think he's edgy because of Zane still," Annie said thoughtfully.

"I've made it clear there's no problem," Zane said in some confusion.

"Yeah, but he still might feel uncomfortable because of what happened, Zane," Alexis replied.

"It wasn't really his fault, though," Zane said. "Lexi, it wasn't his fault I had a meltdown..."

"But he might feel like it is," she stated.

Zane might've disagreed with her, but then realized that she did have a point. "Yeah...so how do we deal with that? I don't think you guys could do an intervention again..."

"No...never again," Chazz exclaimed, remembering Zane's intervention.

"It probably wouldn't work with him, anyway, since we're not as close to him as we are to Zane," Atty said thoughtfully.

"I wonder what would've happened if you guys had had to do an intervention with me," Jaden mused.

The group looked at each other with mixed emotions. "I doubt it would be pleasant, Jay," Violet said, sweat-dropping.

"Oh, no," Bastion agreed, picturing either a hyper, happy Jaden or a very moody Jaden.

"Let's hope we never have to do that," Syrus said.

"Yeah. The only way you guys would have to do that is if I went totally emo," the Slifer king grinned.

"Emo Jaden...that would be one freaky universe, Sarge," Hassleberry said, sweat-dropping.

Rosa shook her head. "I cannot even imagine it."

"So...rather than explore that," Bastion said, "let's enjoy tomorrow..."

"Yeah, we're gonna have some cooking to do," Violet said excitedly.

And so the would-be chefs prepped for the picnic the next day, making enough sandwiches to feed an army but in actuality, enough to feed the gullets of Jaden and Violet along with the rest of their cadre, plus the dessert and the potato salad. Hassleberry prepared a grill for Aster's steaks, and then, the next day, the group met up at the tree.

_Whoa…Aster's having a bit of a hard time, and he wants to hang out with the gang. Will he regret hanging out with them? Maybe he will, but for now, let's focus on the good eating to come! So join us next time for Chapter Two, "A Picnic Challenge." Please read and review and stay tuned! Thank you!_


	2. A Picnic Challenge

Chapter II: A Picnic Challenge

_Hello again, GX believers! We're updating a few hours early for your pleasure! Thanks for the quick responses and we're glad you all seem to still be enjoying what we write. So on with the story, and thanks again for reading and reviewing. So on with the story!_

_Last time, the gang planned to do something fun that didn't involve pranking Dr. Crowler. Everyone decided on a picnic, and to their surprise, Aster Phoenix joined them because he needed the human contact. The chapter closed with the group meeting up the next day, so that is where we continue…_

_**Boring legal stuff: We don't own GX. We own our OCs and this version of the Yugi-verse. Got that? Good.**_

As was agreed on, the next day, the group met up at Jaden's chilling tree. "We've got all the food!" Violet cheered. Everyone was dragging baskets to the scene, many baskets.

"YAY! FOOD!" Jaden whooped, carrying a basket.

Annie puffed a bit as she came up the hill with a big basket. "This is heavy," she groaned.

Syrus, too, was having some trouble with his own basket. Nevertheless, he wanted to try helping Annie. "I can carry it for you, Annie," he offered, coming up to her.

"Why...why don't we do it together?" she suggested, praying she wouldn't pass out. Last semester with Kagemaru had scared her friends, but that had been explained away to the gang as too much stress. She didn't want to scare them, particularly Violet and Sy, with what she suspected.

"Okay...good idea," he replied, smiling.

Together they took the baskets they had and carried them up the hill to the picnic area. "T-Thanks, Sy," she said as they sat down. Her head spun a brief moment, but she forced the lightheadedness away.

"You're welcome, Annie," he answered, wishing he had the courage to put his arm around her. But he didn't dare.

Meanwhile, Hassleberry had the charcoal grill ready about ten feet away from the base of the tree and was wearing an apron that said, "Salute the Cook." "Okay, Private Aster! I'm ready for the meat!" he grinned.

Aster, choosing to wear blue jeans and a long blue t-shirt today, came forward with a Ziploc bag filled with marinated steaks. "Here you are, Hassleberry."

"Those look muy delicioso. Gracias, Senor Phoenix," Rosa said, smiling. She was helping Hassleberry with the grilling.

"No problem," Aster answered in perfect Spanish. "Rosa, I was pleased to help my friends and such a lovely lady..." She wasn't his type, but he did think she was pretty and decided to compliment her.

She blinked in surprise, and blushed a little at the compliment. "You speak Spanish?" she asked in her native language.

"Yes, I do," he answered. "Fluently, Miss, and I do think you're lovely..."

"And at the moment, she's spoken for," Hassleberry said in Spanish. He knew Aster was probably just harmlessly flirting, but the Texas Ra boy wasn't taking any chances. He and Rosa might be seriously dating, but that didn't mean she couldn't change her mind about him.

Rosa's blush had intensified; she wasn't used to compliments. It was likely a good thing Hassleberry intervened. "Er, yes, Hassleberry and I are dating."

"Just complimenting her, Hassleberry...you chose well," Aster said, still speaking in Spanish, knowing that he should defuse the situation, if there was one, "and Rosa, I'd say you did too."

Rosa smiled. "Thank you, Aster."

Meanwhile, the group nearby had heard nothing but Spanish. Violet blinked. "Anyone know what the heck they're saying?"

Annie blushed. She spoke fluent Spanish. "Uh...heh..."

Syrus sweat-dropped. "I'm guessing they spoke a different language for a reason..."

"Yeah...Aster's just being really nice to Rosa," she answered seriously.

Violet blinked again. "Right...well, we might as well set up the rest of the food!"

"All right," Bastion agreed. He was quite eager to help everyone, but he really hoped Violet noticed him. Sure, they were friends, but he hoped she might like him a bit more than that. "Violet, how do we weigh down the blanket?"

Violet grinned. "Easy! I'll be right back!" She ran off, and returned a minute later with four medium-sized rocks. "Ta-da!!" Violet hoped Bastion thought she was smart; she thought for sure that was the only way he'd notice her.

Bastion long ago had noticed that she was smart, as well as beautiful to him. She didn't know he was really interested in her to the point he'd dared Chazz to go to her room and play spy. But today was not the day for her to find out about that! "Wonderful, Violet. Thank you." They laid the rocks on the corners of the blanket, and the rocks held the blanket down. "Why didn't I think of that?" he asked.

"You were thinking too much. Sometimes you just have to relax and it'll come to you like a ton of bricks!" Violet answered, smiling.

"I'm rather tense, aren't I?" he asked her.

"A little. You should lighten up a bit. Maybe I'll give you a shoulder massage after we're done eating. My old culinary classmates said I was a natural when I did it to them," she answered.

"That would be...nice," Bastion answered, flushing slightly. He'd never had the offer of a massage before.

Violet caught the blush, and went a bit red herself. Personally, she hadn't thought he'd agree to it. "Uh, good. Well...let's get the food set out."

"Yes...let's...and it can wait. I daresay we've passed midterms, and winter finals are quite a bit away," he said, trying to defuse the tension.

"You're right. And this year I didn't fill the infirmary with head trauma patients!" she replied, giggling.

"No, you didn't, Violet. I don't think the Ra students will do that again. Professor Sartyr couldn't believe how many head injuries happened..."

"Can I help it if people don't have the Haverbrook hard head?"

Bastion smiled. "Someday, I must meet your family, Violet. I need to do a CT scan and see how hard your family's heads are..."

Violet laughed. "A what scan?"

"It's a CAT scan, Violet," he said.

She blinked. "You use cats to scan people?"

"No," Bastion answered, sweat-dropping. He knew Violet was super-smart, but she didn't have knowledge in certain areas. "It stands for computed tomography. That scan takes a three-dimensional picture of what it scans."

Violet blinked. "Ooh, I get it..." She sighed; so much for making Bastion see how smart she was. "You must think I'm stupid for thinking it involved actual cats."

Bastion smiled. "Violet, that's what I thought when my dad first told me about it."

Violet looked up at him in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really..."

"Well, I guess you really do learn something new every day..."

"Yeah. Well, my dad's a doctor and he let me see everything."

"Oh, I see. Like how my dad let me learn a lot about cars."

"I'll bet you went to work with him," Bastion inquired shyly for him.

"Well, only when I was little. I'm more interested in cooking, dueling, and drawing than in cars. I leave that for my brother to handle," Violet admitted.

"I was the only kid, so Mum and Dad dragged me along wherever they could," Bastion explained.

"I see. I've never been an only child. What's it like?" she asked curiously.

"Lonesome," he admitted.

"Really? My brother said it was 'a heck of a lot easier and way more peaceful'," Violet replied, sweat-dropping.

"Your brother had friends, though, I'll bet..."

"Yeah, he did—wait, you didn't have any friends?"

"Not really," he admitted.

She frowned. "You weren't very popular at your school either, huh?"

"No, I was an oddity among oddities...But then I came here," he said.

"Guess I was just an oddity. But here, that doesn't really matter, does it?" she asked.

"No...It doesn't," Bastion answered.

"Hey, guys, the food's ready," Syrus stated, coming up beside them. The two had been lost in their conversation for some time, it seemed.

"Oh, thank you, Syrus," Bastion said, blinking. "Violet, shall we?"

Violet blushed a little, surprised at how fast time had gone by. "Uh, yeah."

"Having fun?" Annie whispered to Violet when they picked up the plastic plates.

Violet's blush returned, but she quickly forced it back down. "I guess you could say that," she muttered, trying not to give too much away.

"He does like you...just give him time," Annie whispered again.

Violet sighed. "I know, I know...it's just hard. Like how you feel about Sy," she whispered back.

Annie flushed. "Y-yeah...he just doesn't notice me in that way, I guess..."

Violet glanced over at said bluenette, and caught him looking at Annie. She smiled. "I wouldn't say that..."

"What would he see in me?" the dark-haired girl murmured.

"Oh, I don't know. The fact that you're pretty and smart and funny...I could go on, you know," Violet whispered, grinning.

"And fat," Annie muttered. Some people would call her healthy, but the fact was, Annie had been teased when she was younger and more roly-poly, and thus the thought that she was fat had stuck with her. It hadn't helped that the teasing had continued well into middle school.

Violet sighed and prodded her best friend's side. "If that's fat, then my hair's green."

"Look at me compared to Alexis and you! I am pudgy," the dark-haired girl sighed.

"No, you're not. Ask anyone and they'll tell you the same thing. And not because they don't want to be rude."

Annie sighed. "Violet...thanks."

Violet smiled. "No prob. Just relax and have fun. That's what picnics are all about."

"Okay," Annie smiled.

And so the group sat down to the delicious picnic lunch. "Oh, man, I think I'll explode!" Jaden grinned.

"All of this food looks great!" Violet cheered, grinning excitedly.

"Looks good," Aster said, taking a plate and getting his steak and some potato salad.

"Yeah! This is so gourmet!" Jaden grinned, piling his plate with a little of everything.

"It does all look really good," Syrus said.

"And there's tons! No need to worry about running out," Atticus added.

"No...Man, how did you guys do this?" Chazz asked, unable to contain that he was impressed as he got steak and some chips.

Violet winked. "We girls are just great at this sort of thing," she joked.

"And the guys, too," Annie grinned at Hassleberry, who still wore his apron.

"Si, he helped us a lot," Rosa agreed.

Hassleberry blushed. "Aw, shucks...It was nothin'..."

"Oh, it was something. Plus, you're great at grilling!" Violet replied.

"I guess so. You can't live in Texas without knowin' how to barbeque," the Texas Ra grinned.

"Just try not to eat so much that you make yourselves sick, okay guys?" Alexis asked. They all knew who that was directed at.

Jaden grinned. "No problem, Lex...and doctors are standing by!" he added happily.

"Yep! Besides, our stomachs can handle anything!" Violet stated confidently.

"Oh, lord," Zane groaned.

Eventually, everyone stuffed themselves with lunch and then moved onto dessert. Violet had made an excellent chocolate pudding which everyone praised. "Violet...this is great," Annie smiled, feeling like a stuffed turkey.

Violet grinned. "Just a little recipe I learned back in culinary class."

"It's excellent, Violet. You'd be at home in a five star restaurant," Aster praised. "Seriously."

Violet blushed, giggling a little. "It's just pudding..."

"But it's good," Aster insisted. "And I know gourmet."

"You've eaten at a five star restaurant before?" Violet asked.

"Yeah," Aster answered. "I've been to a few good places."

"Wow..." Violet had grown up learning the names of Flay, Morimoto, Deen, Puck and LaGasse. To be potentially on par with them was an amazing thing to the purple-headed girl.

"Have you been to any places in the Seattle area, Aster?" Annie asked curiously.

"Yeah. There's that one Thai restaurant in Bellevue that's good. They make awesome garlic fried chicken," Aster answered. "They should be five-star. They are that good."

"Have you eaten there, Annie?" Syrus asked curiously.

Annie nodded. "Yeah. It's a good place to go on Sunday nights or to get take-out from. It's not too expensive."

"I've never had Thai food before," the blue-headed boy admitted.

"Syrus...you have to expand," Zane observed.

"Huh?"

"That means, little brother, you need to try different foods," the older Truesdale said knowingly.

"I guess you're right..."

"Sy, do you like Chinese food?" Annie asked curiously.

Syrus nodded. "Yeah."

"Then you might like Thai food," she answered.

"It's like Chinese food?" he asked.

"Yeah. They use more rice noodles, though," she explained. "And the food's a little spicy."

"Oh. Maybe I'll try it next time I'm back home," he replied, smiling.

"Hey, look what I can do with my spoon!" Violet stated suddenly. She was doing the classic trick where a person sticks a spoon to their nose.

"Hey, I can do that!" Jaden grinned, grabbing a spoon and doing the same thing. "Can you put a spoon on your ear, Violet?" he asked, doing just that.

"You bet I can!" Violet replied, copying him. "But I bet you can't do two at once!" she said, doing the same to her other ear.

Jaden grinned. "I'll take that bet!" He put the spoon on his other ear and then balanced a glass on his head.

"Oh, is that how you want to do it? All right!" Violet balanced the glass on her head then added a paper plate on top. "Beat that!"

He did, placing a plate and another cup on his head, "This won't end well," Bastion groaned.

"How are they even doing that?" Syrus asked, eyes wide as Violet copied Jaden then added a glass to each shoulder.

As Jaden did the same as Violet, Annie sighed. "Heaven only knows..."

Violet had just added plates to the glasses on her shoulders, when suddenly a large, blue butterfly fluttered over. She blinked, and everyone watched as it landed on one of the plates. "Uh-oh." Violet muttered, feeling herself lean towards Jaden from the added weight.

Jaden impulsively leaned backward, losing his balance. "Oh, nuts! Sy!" he yelped, feeling himself start to fall. Syrus, of course, jumped to his feet and ran over to try and help his best friend. But he was too late, and suddenly found himself getting crashed into by both teens. For a moment, they were stationary, and then they felt the ground moving under them. "Oh, nuts!" Jaden was just able to yelp again as the world flashed by in a tangle of arms and legs.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Violet yelled as everything spun around and around.

"I hope there's nothing hard at the bottom!" Syrus yelped, barely keeping a hold on his glasses.

Well, unfortunately, there was something hard at the bottom of the hill. "WHAT IN THE..?! ARGH!" a familiar voice yelped.

_Uh-oh…that didn't end well, did it? So who did our two friendly combatants and their friend hit at the bottom of the hill? Find out next time in "24—Epic Fail!" So please read, review and tune in next time! Thank you._


	3. 24 Epic Fail!

Chapter III: 24— Epic Fail

_Hello again, everybody! We're glad you like our little comedy. Yeah, we know Aster's acting a little…strange. We made a bit of an assumption on him in this alternate timeline, that since he didn't find out about his adoptive father being his biological father's killer until after Sartorius went down, the knowledge, when it came would be much more of a shock. We hope everyone can forgive us the assumption. Thank you! Now, onto the tale!_

_Last time, a little competition between Jaden and Violet got predictably out of hand. Syrus, eager to try and avert disaster, instead got caught up in it. And then, the hapless trio ran into someone at the bottom of the hill. So who was that someone? Find out in "24—Epic Fail!"_

_**Disclaimer: We don't GX or 24 or any TV network. We wish we did. We also don't own the code phrases that Bastion and Annie use in this chapter. That belongs to the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fifth season episode, "Darmok," and the writers that made up the codes. Thanks, and please don't sue.**_

_**Warning: **__This____story contains use of potentially illegal behavior. We know it's illegal and in the real world, someone not only would get detention, they might just get arrested. Trust us; you don't want to try it. Thank you for your attention._

_Authors' note: This story takes place sometime after the events of "Serving Cruelty" and "The Path to Redemption" and a few months before the events of "A Guy's Worst Nightmare." _

"Oh, shoot. Please don't tell me we crashed into who I know we crashed into," Violet half muttered, half groaned from her spot beneath Jaden.

"I hope not," Syrus's muffled reply came from beneath her.

They were so wrong. An enraged Dr. Vellian Crowler was standing over them. "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted.

Violet sweat-dropped; she was sandwiched between the two guys and could only see Crowler upside-down. "Uh....we were playing a game?" she offered, grinning innocently.

Jaden looked embarrassed. "Uh...sorry, Dr. Crowler..."

"We didn't mean to crash into you like that," Syrus added hopefully.

"You three...are IN DETENTION!" the teacher shouted, enraged.

"Detention? But it was…" Jaden began before Crowler abruptly cut him off.

"An accident?! Again?!"

"It really was this time! Honest!" Violet said, pouting.

"It was!" Syrus added.

"You crashed into ME! AGAIN!" This was the third time in a week he'd been crashed into by Jaden or Violet.

"We didn't know the hill was there..." Violet muttered.

"Didn't know?!" Crowler wasn't in the mood to be trifled with.

"We just, kind of...fell. On accident!" Syrus tried.

"You're all three in detention. NOW!" Crowler shouted.

"Darn it! Third time this week," Violet muttered. Her parents weren't going to be happy about this.

"Aw, man," Syrus groaned.

"But Dr. Crowler," Jaden tried.

"BUT NOTHING! MARCH!"

The three teens untangled themselves and stood. "So much for having fun and relaxing all day," Violet muttered bitterly as Crowler followed after them towards the detention hall.

The gang saw from the hill. "Oh, no," Annie groaned.

"That's not fair! It was an accident!" Atticus said, frowning and glaring at Crowler's back.

"He's been too tense since before Chancellor Shepherd returned...that's why he's been giving detention to people, I think," Bastion sighed.

"It doesn't mean he can give it to them for just that. Atty's right, that's unfair treatment. They didn't do it on purpose," Alexis replied, seething.

"Yeah...well, there's not much we can do about it," Chazz groaned.

"If only we could get them out of there," Rosa said through a sigh.

"We just might be able to," Zane realized in a sudden stroke of brilliance and mischief. "Who's seen 24?"

"I have," Alexis answered.

"So have I," Atticus added.

"Me, too," Aster added.

"I did," Annie admitted. "Zane, what are you thinking?"

"Annie...you can be our Chloe..."

"Zane, do you have a plan?" Alexis asked, her hazel-brown eyes widening at the fact that Zane… Zane!.. was advocating…something he shouldn't be.

"Yeah. Annie could disable the security cameras while we sneak in there and break the guys out," he answered, confirming Alexis's suspicions.

Atticus blinked, then grinned. "Zane, buddy, that's genius!"

"Yeah...Well, it won't be easy," the former Kaiser of Duel Academy responded, getting his customary serious expression on his face.

"But we can do it. We've done crazier stuff before, right?" Atticus asked, grinning.

"Yes...this is insane, though," Bastion answered.

"If we screw this up, we'll probably get in a ton of trouble," Alexis added.

"We will, Private Lexi," Tyson groaned, "but we've gotta try and save the Sarge, Private Violet and Private Truesdale..."

"We will do our best. Even if we fail, at least we tried," Rosa stated, determined.

"Yeah!" the group shouted in triumph, sure that they would succeed.

And so it began. The kids quickly cleaned up the remnants of their picnic and moved to Chazz's room at Slifer. "So what now?" the black-clad boy wondered as they sat in his room.

"We need a game plan," Atticus answered with a devilish grin.

"Okay," Zane said. "It's fairly simple..." He took a breath. "Annie and Bastion are going to hack into the main computer system and access the security cameras so we can get to the detention area. One of us can distract the teachers. Once in, we get to the three prisoners, get them and get out."

Atticus raised his hand, grinning. "I'll distract them!"

"Alexis should be involved in that phase, then," Zane said thoughtfully.

Atticus blinked. "Why do you say that?"

"Double trouble," the dark-haired boy answered his friend seriously, realizing that Atticus alone might not be believed. However, if he were accompanied by his sister, the Queen of Obelisk Blue, the teachers would be more inclined to take him and her seriously.

Atticus grinned. "Right..."

Alexis sighed. "Only because it'll help get them out of detention."

"Just...avoid singing anything by Donny and Marie this time, Atticus... Please," Chazz pleaded.

"Don't worry, he's NOT getting me to do that again," Alexis growled, remembering when Atticus had gotten her to sing something by the famous Osmond duo.

"But you looked nice in that outfit, Lexi-rama," Chazz said, trying to compliment the pretty girl. That, perhaps, was an error. Alexis turned on him, vein popped out on her forehead as she sent him a vicious death glare. "But you did!" Chazz said, thinking that praise would cool her temper.

"Now he's done it," Zane muttered, knowing full well Mount Alexis was about to blow her top.

Alexis stood, practically surrounded by flames of rage. "Dude. Run. Now," Atticus whispered, knowing that look.

Chazz noticed, but didn't heed the warning. Instead, he plodded on. "Lexi-rama, you wouldn't hurt me for complimenting you, would you?" That was probably not the brightest of things to say.

"CHAZZ!!!" Alexis yelled, and lunged at him like a ferocious lioness.

Chazz screamed like a first year Brownie Scout and ran for his life. 'She's treating me like Atticus. THIS SUCKS!' he thought, but deep within himself, he didn't really mind.

Alexis chased Chazz around the room for about a minute or so, then finally caught up and gave him a swift punch to the head. "NEVER CALL ME LEXI-RAMA!!!"

"OUCH!" he yelped. "WHAT DO I CALL YOU?!"

"ALEXIS!!!" she answered, fists clenched.

"Okay, okay, I give...Alexis...I'm sorry," he apologized.

Annie moved over. "I think you overdid it, Alexis," she murmured, checking the bump on the boy's noggin.

Alexis turned away in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. In retrospect, maybe she had gotten a bit carried away. 'But Chazz knows I don't like that stupid nickname. He knew better than to call me it,' she thought. "Apology accepted, Chazz. And...I'm sorry I punched you. But you know I don't like that nickname," she replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I forgive you," he groaned.

"She's right, though...don't call her that," Annie cautioned him, checking the bump.

"Well, I'm glad there's such a pretty lady watching out for me," he answered, most unfortunately not looking at Annie's face.

An angry vein uncharacteristically popped out on her forehead. "Chazz... my face is up here!"

Alexis, hearing this comment, swiftly turned and sent him a glare. "Chazz!" The other people in the room had similar looks of anger and disapproval on their faces.

Bastion's expression had gone from calm to angry rather quickly. "You're lucky Violet isn't in here, Chazz. I think she'd pound you. And I'm dangerously close to it."

"Why?" Chazz asked, genuinely oblivious like a certain Slifer slacker he knew too well.

"Because I don't let anyone ogle my surrogate sister. Understand?" Poor Chazz nodded dumbly. He still didn't get it, but decided he'd better shut up.

"Sorry, Annie."

"Apology accepted," she answered as he looked up at her face. "Just remember...look at the face, or next time, you might get hurt...Seriously, I don't want to think about what Violet might do," she sighed.

"She'd probably throw him through a wall," Alexis offered as she sat down, massaging her temple. "All right, let's try to get back to what we were doing."

"Okay...so we have to get Violet, Jaden and my brother out of the detention hall," Zane said. "The trick is not getting caught. So Atticus and Alexis, you can work on distraction. Rosa and Hassleberry, do you think you can be our lookouts?"

Rosa blinked. "Look out? For what?" she asked, looking around.

"A lookout's a person that looks out for trouble, darlin'," Tyson explained. "See, we'd be guards."

"Oh, I see. So we watch out for teachers?" she asked for clarity.

"That's right," Zane answered. "You two would watch for teachers. So that leaves me, Annie, Bastion..."

"And me," Aster added, standing in the doorway.

Everyone looked up in various degrees of surprise. "Aster? You want to help?" Atticus asked.

"We're glad to have you, of course," Zane added, eyes wide.

"It's a challenge," Aster answered with a slight grin and his usual bravado. "And Jaden, Violet and Sy didn't deserve that. So what can I do to help?"

"Are you any good at stealth operations, soldier?" Hassleberry asked curiously.

"Uh...yeah," Aster answered, a little surprised.

"Have you done something like this before?" Alexis asked curiously.

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Aster said with a slight smirk.

Alexis blinked, then returned the smirk, getting the joke. "Well, in that case, we're glad to have an extra helping hand."

"Okay...So, Aster, I'll put you on the team that goes to get the guys out. Chazz and I will round out the rescue team. Bastion, you can help Annie with disabling systems..."

"So, is that everything?" Atticus asked.

"We know the teachers' patterns and with Chancellor Shepherd back, I think we can assume the teachers are on their regular schedules," Zane continued.

"So...the best time to do this would be when none of the teachers are around the detention hall...or at least only a few are there," Alexis said.

"Except for..." Zane began.

"Crowler," Annie sighed. "How do we distract him?"

Atticus grinned. "I'll think of something. Don't worry..."

Zane sighed softly. "Okay, Atticus...you'd better know what you're doing. Annie, where do you need to be?"

"Hmmm...Bastion, where would the best place be for a Wi-Fi connection?"

"The library," the Ra genius answered, and for a moment the two bright kids spoke in computer jargon.

"What the heck are they saying?" Chazz asked no one in particular.

Rosa shrugged; sometimes it was hard enough for her to just understand English. Atticus looked as confused as Chazz, and Alexis shook her head. "I have no idea, Chazz."

Annie and Bastion, apparently finished with their conversation, noticed that their friends were looking at them. "Uh...is there a problem?" Annie asked, blushing.

Alexis sweat-dropped. "Just lost track of what you guys were saying..."

The two teens looked at each other. "Annie, I believe we did it again," Bastion sighed.

"Sorry, guys...All you need to know is that we just figured out how to break into the security system," Annie explained, sweat-dropping.

Atticus blinked. "Oh, okay then."

"So...when does the operation begin?" Hassleberry asked.

"As soon as possible," Zane said. "We have to move quickly."

"Yeah, they only have detention for so long," Alexis added.

"Yeah...four hours," Bastion said quickly. "So let's do this."

"YEAH!" the group whooped.

As the free members of Jaden's cadre planned for his, Violet's and Syrus's release, he and his fellow prisoners sat in the detention room. Jaden tapped his fingers against the desk, Sy stared out the window and Violet threw sharp pencils up at the ceiling. There were now 5 pencils stuck in the ceiling above them. "Man, this sucks," Jaden groaned.

"You can say that again," Violet replied. She tossed up another pencil, watching its point stick to the ceiling. There were five up there by this point.

Syrus sighed. "Our parents aren't going to be happy about this..."

`"Mom and Dad don't have high expectations of me at this point. Sorry, Sy...You always end up getting in trouble with me," Jaden apologized.

Syrus offered his friend a smile. "Hey, it's okay, Jay. It was an accident. And sometimes it's my fault we get into trouble."

"Like the time you two snuck into the girls' dorm?" Violet asked, grinning.

"That was...the fault of whoever wrote that letter. And that wasn't Alexis's handwriting," Jaden said. "I think I should've given it to Annie and Bastion. They could've figured it out."

"You're right. But it's been a year since then," Syrus said through a sigh.

Violet leaned her head over the back of her chair, bored. "It can't be that hard. Who do we know would want to get you two in trouble?"

"Back then...Dr. Crowler," Jaden said. "But why would he have given a note to Sy?"

Syrus thought for a moment, then blinked. "Hey, wait, I remember something. Jay, I found that love letter on top of your shoes. You'd put them in my locker on accident again."

"Then...oh, man...Sy...the letter was written to me, but still...I'm sorry, man..."

"Jay, it was an accident. Neither of us knew that would get us into so much trouble. But...then it would make sense for Dr. Crowler to have written it. To get you in trouble."

Jaden sighed. "I'm glad he changed, if that's the case...But I still manage to get you guys in trouble...I just hope the other guys aren't trying anything..."

"Nah, I doubt it. I mean, this isn't exactly our first time in detention," Violet replied simply, tossing up another pencil.

"They wouldn't...would they?" Jaden wondered, suddenly having a bad feeling about this. Later, the Slifer King would reflect that he'd for once, been dead-on accurate.

"Jay, I doubt they'd risk it. Besides, how would they get us out of detention?" Syrus asked.

"Hmmm...no idea," Jaden answered. But he had a feeling that something was about to happen.

Meanwhile, Annie and Bastion headed into the library and set up their laptop computers. "Okay...let's do this," she grinned. "Definitely," Bastion grinned back.

"Okay, Zane," Annie said once she had her microphone headset on, "we're ready here."

"Okay, Rhodes duo, are you ready?" Zane asked.

"All ready, Zaney," Atty answered.

"Yeah, we're ready," Alexis added.

"Rosa and Hassleberry, are you ready?" Zane asked through a PDA connection.

"Ready and willin', Lieutenant Zane! Ready, Rosa?"

Rosa nodded. "Si, I'm ready."

"Strike team, I think we're as ready as we'll ever be," Zane sighed, looking at Aster and Chazz.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we can do this," the raven-headed Slifer groaned.

"Yes, we can," Aster said confidently.

And so, the plan started. First, Crowler needed to be taken care of. Atticus took a moment to compose himself, then put on a freaked-out expression and ran to the teacher in the detention room. "DR. CROWLER!! It's terrible!" he yelled as he raced into the room.

Crowler stood up in shock. "Atticus Rhodes, what in the world is going on here?!"

Atticus took a moment to catch his breath, then spoke. "Dr. Crowler, there's an emergency at the Obelisk dorm!"

"An emergency? What sort of emergency?" the teacher demanded.

"It's the guys! There was this duel and—" Atticus began, when Alexis rushed in. It was time for some back-up so that the story was more believable.

"Dr. Crowler, there's a huge fight going on between the girls and the Obelisk guys over a duel! Oh, Atty, did you already tell him?" she asked.

"I was just about to, Lexi."

"A fight?! Oh, my!" Crowler quickly got up and gave the kids in detention a hard look. "You are not to leave this room, you three, do you understand?" he asked clearly.

Violet and Syrus had both been gawking at the siblings, half in disbelief and half in shock. "Uh, yeah, sure..." Both muttered something along those lines, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

Jaden looked up at Alexis and Atticus, hoping to catch their eyes. "What's going on?" he mouthed.

While Atticus took Crowler's attention "explaining" in more detail, Alexis met his gaze. "We're breaking you out," she mouthed back, smirking.

Jaden's eyes widened in shock. Fortunately, Dr. Crowler didn't catch the exchange. The door shut... "I was right," Jaden groaned.

Syrus's eyes were wide as well. "I can't believe they're actually going to try it," he muttered.

Violet, however, was grinning. "Hooray! We're gonna get out of detention early!" she cheered, pumping a fist.

"Violet, if they're caught," Jaden groaned again, "it's not gonna be good."

"Hey, I'm sure they thought this through. I mean, that excuse to get Dr. C outta here was genius!" Violet replied excitedly.

Meanwhile, Annie and Bastion were working feverishly to get through the computer system. "Oh, come on!" Annie groaned.

"What is it?" Bastion asked.

"They've tightened security...this is going to take longer..."

"Different computer system?" he asked.

"Yeah...this isn't good..."

Outside... "Heh, worked like a charm," Hassleberry smirked.

Rosa nodded, smiling. "Si. Senor Crowler is very gullible, no?"

"It's hard for him to believe that the Obelisk barracks can be...rowdy, so that's why this works," he grinned back.

But Crowler realized as he ran that something needed to be done so the detention room was secure. "Crowler to Professor Stein," he said into his active PDA.

Said professor was sitting at his desk, grading some test papers. He paused to pick up his PDA, voice as monotonous as it was in class. "Professor Stein here. What is it, Crowler?" he asked.

"I need you to head to the detention room. I can't leave the students in there unsupervised for too long. It's Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale and Violet Haverbrook. Could you please go and check on them?"

"Of course. I was almost finished, anyway. I'll head over there right now," Stein answered as he stood.

"Thank you. There's a disturbance at Obelisk I have to take care of immediately."

"I understand. Don't worry; I'll make sure those three don't try anything." The teachers signed off, and Crowler took a deep breath of relief.

Atticus and Alexis had overheard this conversation, and looked at each other with fearful expressions. But they couldn't call to warn the others with Crowler right there. All they could do was hope Hassleberry and Rosa spotted Stein before it was too late.

Unfortunately for the lookouts, Professor Jean-Louis Bonaparte had come toward the detention area and seen the teen couple. "Bonjour, Monsieur Hassleberry, Mademoiselle Jimenez," he greeted.

Rosa, not one to be easily surprised, actually jumped at the greeting. She wasn't used to being sneaky like this, and turned to face the stout teacher with a nervous expression. "Oh, hola, Senor Bonaparte," she greeted, grinning sheepishly.

"Hello, sir," Tyson greeted, just a bit nervously.

"Is everything all right?" Bonaparte asked suspiciously.

"Uh...you caught us, sir...we were...we were... uh..."

Rosa, the tension getting to her, said the first thing that came to mind. "Making out!!"

Whatever Tyson Schwarzkopf Hassleberry had been expecting, that wasn't it. He turned beet red and wished he could retreat. However, Bonaparte merely smirked. "Ah, l'amour...Carry on," he said, walking away. And in that time, Professor Stein had gotten into the detention room.

The professor entered the room, definitely surprising its three occupants. "Hello, Mr. Yuki, Mr. Truesdale, Miss Haverbrook. I'm here to watch you three until Dr. Crowler returns from his emergency," he explained in a deadpan tone.

Jaden's face went white. There was no way to warn the gang. He looked at his fellow prisoners in horror. Syrus was trying to hide his own look of terror so as not to make the professor suspicious. Violet's enthusiasm for the escape plan had drained in an instant, and she could barely stop her jaw from dropping at the sheer bad luck. And as the prisoners realized the plan was falling in, Zane, Aster and Chazz headed toward the detention room. By this time, Stein had sat down at the desk at the front of the room. He had brought along the tests to grade while he watched the three.

And in the library, Annie and Bastion kept working. "I can't figure this out," she groaned.

"The pass codes have changed," Bastion muttered.

And then, the door closest to them opened and none other than Professor Jean-Louis Bonaparte entered. He blinked in surprise when he saw Annie and Bastion there. "Monsieur Misawa? Mademoiselle Hanson? What are you doing here on a weekend?" he asked, walking over to them.

"Er...research, sir," Bastion answered.

"Yes, sir, research," Annie agreed, praying that Bonaparte wouldn't see the screen.

"Oh, I see. Studying on the weekend? You two are such good students. What class is this for?" Unfortunately, Bonaparte had nothing to do, and always liked to see what the students were working on.

"Uh...computer class," Annie tried, but it was too late.

She looked at Bastion and he muttered, "Shaka, when the walls fell..."

She answered, "Kadir beneath Mo Moteh." Both were referring to failure.

Bonaparte may have only started at the school that year, but he recognized what was on the screen. "Monsieur Misawa, Mademoiselle Hanson, what is the meaning of this?! Were you trying to break through school security?!"

"Er...we," Bastion began.

Annie went pale from terror and the stress of the situation. "Ooh..." She sank into a chair before her knees could buckle.

"Mademoiselle Hanson, are you all right??" Bonaparte asked, anger turning to worry as she seemingly collapsed into the chair.

"Just a little woozy, sir," she admitted tiredly.

"Annie...blast," Bastion muttered.

"Well, I'm calling Mademoiselle Fontaine. And then I'm calling Monsieur Shepherd." Bonaparte said as he pulled out his PDA; it was clear he wasn't letting them off.

"I'm sorry," Bastion whispered to her. He didn't like the look on Annie's face at all. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"It's...it's nothing," Annie muttered, trying to take some deep breaths.

Meanwhile, Zane, Aster and Chazz raced down the hall to their lookouts. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Hassleberry answered, saluting cheerfully. "Professor Bonaparte went by a few minutes ago...We fooled him..."

Rosa was blushing a bit, having realized what she'd said. "Si, he is well away by now..."

"Must've been easy," Aster said. "This is almost too easy."

"Yeah...well, it's a school," Chazz commented as they sauntered to the detention hall. "Hey, guys," he said as he opened the door, "we're here!"

Syrus sent the three a sheepish grin, while Violet smacked her forehead. Professor Stein blinked and looked up in surprise. "Mr. Princeton?"

"Uh...Professor Stein?" Chazz responded in surprise.

Jaden was shaking his head and muttering, "Oh, no...no..."

Said professor leaned over, catching sight of the other two. "Mr. Truesdale? Mr. Phoenix? Might I ask what you three are doing here?"

Zane looked at his brother, his brother's best friend and the girl that could make him laugh in secret. "Uh..."

Meanwhile, outside... "Private Aster's right...this was too easy," Hassleberry whispered to Rosa.

Rosa nodded. "But we should be careful. We do not want to, er...'jinx it', as you Americanos like to say," she whispered.

"It won't happen..."

And then Miss Fontaine came jogging by. "Hey, you two," she greeted. "I have to get to the library."

"The library?" Rosa asked, remembering that Annie and Bastion were there.

"Yes, there's been a little problem there," the nurse/teacher explained.

"A problem?" Hassleberry asked, worried.

"Yes...Annie Hanson isn't feeling well..."

"Oh, no," Rosa groaned, also getting worried.

"She should be fine, Rosa...excuse me," Miss Fontaine said, moving quickly.

"We need to get down to the room," Hassleberry muttered when Miss Fontaine was out of sight.

Rosa nodded. "Si, we need to tell the others."

They ran down the hall to the detention room. "Guys! Problem! The mission's been compromised!" Hassleberry shouted.

Unfortunately, the teen couple entered the room right when Professor Stein was questioning the "rescue team."

He blinked a few more times. "Mr. Hassleberry? Miss Jimenez? What on earth are all of you doing here??"

"Uh...It's my fault," Zane said, wanting to take the blame.

"No, my fault," Aster added.

Professor Stein raised his hand for silence; it seemed he'd caught on by this point. "All of you sit down. I'm calling Dr. Crowler and no one is to leave this room until he returns."

A soft chorus of "yes, sirs," went through the room.

"Sorry, Sy," Zane whispered to his brother.

Syrus sighed. "It's okay, Zane. You guys tried," he whispered back.

"Privates Bastion and Annie got caught," Hassleberry groaned.

"And worse, Senorita Fontaine was heading there. Something is wrong with Annie," Rosa added, frowning.

Both Violet and Syrus turned on the two. "What!?" Violet whispered, eyes wide.

"We'll find out soon," Hassleberry soothed.

Meanwhile, at Obelisk Blue... "There is no fight here... Alexis? Atticus?! What is going on?" Dr. Crowler asked, getting the distinct feeling he'd been had. The siblings glanced warily at each other. Atticus was about to make a try at an excuse when Crowler's PDA started ringing. Alexis prayed that the call wasn't about what she thought it would be about.

"This is Dr. Crowler...Professor Stein?" Crowler asked. "What's going on?"

"Dr. Crowler, I'm sorry to bother you in the middle of an emergency, but I believe you should come back to the detention room. Five students have just stormed in here, and I believe they were making an attempt to sneak Mr. Yuki, Mr. Truesdale, and Miss Haverbrook out of detention," Stein explained, giving the names.

"There is no emergency...only conspiracy, Benjamin," Crowler said with a very ominous look at the Rhodes siblings.

Atticus and Alexis felt a fearful chill run down their spines; they both knew they were in a load of trouble. "We are so screwed," the Obelisk boy muttered through his sheepish grin.

_And so, the gig is up. The group has been caught, the teachers are displeased and the mission has failed. So what will result from this? Next time, we see the aftermath of the attempt in "Or Are We?" Please read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!_


	4. Or Are We?

Chapter IV: Or Are We?

_Yeah, we know…That was probably one of the most outlandish escape attempts ever. We're glad you even remotely enjoyed it. Yeah, we know it was a little bit much to launch a rescue operation for four hours of detention on a Saturday afternoon. But then again…this is Duel Academy where it seems you can't even have a normal lunch without dealing with saving the world. Okay, so with that out of the way, we thank all of you for your reviews and your laughter. We're glad if we can give you a good chuckle because the world definitely needs laughter now. So onto the tale!_

_Last time, the gang made their rescue attempt. Thanks to miscues and a comedy of errors, the mission failed. So what will happen next? Read on and enjoy the finale!_

_**Usual boring legal stuff: We don't own GX. We just own our OCs and play around in the universe because it's fun. We also don't own any incarnation of Star Trek. If Peach did, DS9 would have a movie and Captain Janeway would've ended up with Chakotay instead of the latter having a midlife crisis! That's it. Thank you.**_

"Crowler?" Stein asked, surprised.

"Yes, Professor Stein?"

"What do you mean by conspiracy?"

"I think these kids planned something..."

And to add insult to injury, Miss Fontaine called from the infirmary. "Sir, we have a minor situation in the infirmary."

"The infirmary??" Professor Stein asked in more surprise.

All the heads in the detention room flew up. "They're in the infirmary?!" Jaden yelped.

Violet's worry grew in an instant, and Syrus looked like he was about to panic. "But why would she need to go there?!" they both asked, almost in unison.

"I think she had a panic attack," Miss Fontaine answered.

On Crowler's end of the line, he looked thoughtful. "Miss Fontaine, are you in the infirmary now?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, then. Professor Stein, I'll meet you and our co-conspirators at the infirmary. All of you are in deep trouble...Especially when Chancellor Shepherd hears of this." Crowler knew the students could hear fully what they, the teachers were discussing.

The teens groaned, but at the moment their main concern was their friend. "All right, Vellian. I'll bring them down to the infirmary," Professor Stein answered before hanging up and looking at the worried group over his glasses.

Zane put his arm around Sy as they stood to head out of the room. "I'm sure she's going to be okay, little brother," he whispered softly.

Syrus fidgeted worriedly. "I hope so...if she's in the infirmary..."

"She may have just panicked. She's passed out before when she's gotten stressed, remember?" Zane asked, referring to Sy's first year, during the Kagemaru incident.

"I know...you're right, I really shouldn't be worrying so much," Syrus said; but he just couldn't help wondering if it was more than just panic attacks.

Meanwhile, Jaden sighed. "Violet...Annie'll be all right. What do you think she would've been doing in the library?"

Violet probably would have been running to the infirmary had Stein not been on them like a bodyguard. "I don't know...she usually doesn't study there..."

"Er, she and Bastion were helping us from there," Rosa whispered; she wasn't sure if the two had been caught or not, and didn't want to give them away.

Zane groaned softly. "They got caught."

Hassleberry had just realized the same thing. "Dang it," he muttered.

Chazz was quiet and Aster groaned. "So much for easy," the white-blonde sighed.

"Yeah," Chazz added. The walk to the infirmary from the detention room was quick and when the group arrived, Dr. Crowler was just arriving with Alexis and Atticus.

A shamefaced Bastion was sitting in a waiting area chair, also looking worried. "Miss Fontaine has me sitting out here while she's examining Annie," he explained as Professor Bonaparte sat in another chair, frowning with a combination of frustration and worry.

Syrus was a little less worried thanks to his brother's words, and Violet was only a little worried. Seeing Bastion's expression was tugging at her. "Bastion, what happened?" Syrus asked.

"We were in the library...and," Bastion sighed, knowing that there had been no way to cover their tracks, "we couldn't disable the cameras quickly enough. Professor Bonaparte caught us and Annie seemed to have a panic attack. She got feeling dizzy and went as white as a sheet."

"Oh, man...just like last time," Violet groaned.

"Yeah...I just hope she isn't in the infirmary as long as last time. You know how she is when she has to miss class," Bastion explained, a slight smile quirking his lips.

Both Syrus and Violet smiled at that; Annie hated missing class. "She'll have a fit," Violet joked.

Jaden noticed all his friends were in on this and groaned. "Lex, Atticus, you were in on this too?"

Atticus grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, we were."

"We were supposed to distract Dr. Crowler...which we did manage to do," Alexis explained, smirking.

"Nice, but...what if we all get expelled?" Jaden asked, feeling rotten.

"Well, you aren't looking at expulsion," Crowler said, "since you, Violet and Syrus weren't in on this, Jaden."

'Now I know how Captain Kirk felt,' Bastion thought ruefully, thinking of Star Trek Four when said captain had to face the Federation Council.

"Wait, but they aren't going to get expelled, are they??" Violet asked, finding something else to worry about.

Crowler looked around at the group of kids very seriously. The truth of the matter was, if there was a way to avoid expulsion for them, he would find it, but right now, these kids needed to know just how serious the offense was. "What your would-be rescuers have done is very serious, Violet. That is an option for this."

Syrus's eyes widened. "B-But, isn't there anything else they can do to make up for it?"

"We'll see," Crowler said clearly.

"Doctor Crowler, a word, if I may?" Bonaparte said quickly.

Crowler looked at his colleague in surprise. "Of course. Ben as well?" Bonaparte nodded and the three headed outside the room into the hall.

"What is it, Jean-Louis?" Ben asked once they were in the hall, adjusting his glasses.

"Mademoiselle Hanson and Monsieur Misawa were attempting to disable the cameras leading to the detention area. Bastion tried to take the blame. It seems their intent was to make it so their friends could rescue the three in detention."

"Yes, the three who were meant to do that must have been Mr. Truesdale, Mr. Princeton, and Mr. Phoenix. I'm guessing by the way Mr. Hassleberry and Miss Jimenez tried to stop them, that they were acting as look-outs," Ben replied, nodding.

"And Alexis and Atticus were the ones to get me away from the detention area," Crowler muttered thoughtfully. "They didn't count on me calling you, Ben."

"No, it seems they didn't. Something must have distracted Hassleberry and Rosa so that they didn't notice me go into the detention area."

"That would be moi," Bonaparte said. "They said they were...making out?"

Ben blinked in surprise. "Isn't that against school policy??"

"Well, public displays of affection are," Crowler answered, "but as they were in a private area...wait a moment...they wouldn't have..."

"Vellian, do you think they lied so as not to draw suspicion?" Stein asked, catching on as well.

"They would have...Shepherd's going to love this," Crowler sighed. "I don't want any of them expelled, truthfully."

"Nor I," Bonaparte added. "What did Monsieurs Jaden and Syrus and Mademoiselle Violet do to land themselves in detention, Monsieur Crowler?"

"You know, I was wondering the same thing myself," Stein said, looking over at his colleague quizzically.

"Uh..." Crowler sweat-dropped. He had overreacted and he knew it. Stein raised a questioning eyebrow at the response; had Crowler possibly over-reacted? Again? "They knocked me down...And I landed all three in detention," the former chancellor groaned softly.

Professor Stein blinked in surprise. "They knocked you down? Was it intentional?"

Crowler sighed. "No...I see that now..."

"So then...you over-reacted?"

The blonde teacher sighed. "I'll tell Shepherd to be lenient. They are good students for the most part. Even Jaden." A year ago, it would've killed Vellian Crowler to admit this, but now, it wasn't so hard.

Stein considered for a moment. "They've been in detention before. The likely reason their friends tried to break them out this time is because they felt it was unfair."

"It was a bit unfair, Vellian," Bonaparte had to admit. "If it was an accident, you shouldn't have..."

"I know...well, we'll talk more when we know about Annie's condition and Chancellor Shepherd gets involved."

"Yes, that's a good idea. Perhaps we should go back and see if Miss Fontaine has finished her examination," Stein replied.

They headed back into the room, and Miss Fontaine came from the exam area. "I'm just having her stay lying down as a precaution. It seems Annie did have a panic attack. Her heart rate was a little fast, but that's normal when you're panicked."

Everyone was relieved by this, especially Violet, Bastion, and Syrus. There was still the chance of expulsion to worry about, but at least their friend was okay. "Can we see her, Miss Fontaine?" Syrus asked hopefully.

"Of course, Syrus. How about you and Violet first?" she suggested.

Violet, knowing how close Annie and Bastion were, rubbed her arm. "Er, can Bastion come too? I think Annie would want to see him."

"Sure," Miss Fontaine answered, smiling.

The three headed down to the exam room where Annie was resting on a cot. "Hey guys," she said, sitting up a little.

Miss Fontaine moved forward and propped the still-pale girl up with pillows. "Take it easy now, Annie."

"Yes, ma'am," the girl said meekly.

Syrus smiled. "Hey, Annie. Everyone's glad you're all right. We were worried when we heard what happened..."

"Annie," Bastion began, getting Violet and Sy situated in seats before he sat down close to the girl in the bed as well, "are you..?"

"Yeah...I just spazzed again," she sighed, but deep down, she was worried. She'd had small episodes like this before, and this was the fourth of the school year.

"Annie, you had a panic attack. It happens to everyone," Violet said, worried about her best friend's emotional state.

"I just keep scaring you guys," the pale girl groaned again.

"Annie, it's all right," Bastion tried. "This wasn't a fate of the universe thing...Please don't be hard on yourself."

"Annie, I probably would have done the same thing if I'd been caught... You-and the others, too-were really brave trying to get us out of detention like that," Syrus said, smiling.

'No, you wouldn't have,' Annie thought, but extended her arms to hug Sy, if he'd let her. Syrus blushed a little, but accepted the hug. He knew it was just a friendly one, but he wished it was more. Annie wished this hug was more than friendly, but at this moment felt it was the best she could have from him.

They released and then Bastion moved forward, his arms open. "Temba, his arms wide," he said.

"Of course," she answered, taking the hug. Noticing the puzzled looks, Annie explained, "That meant he wanted to give me something."

Violet blinked. "Ooh...okay!" She spread her arms for a hug too, grinning. "Temba, his arms wide!" she repeated, wanting to try it.

Annie smiled and took the hug. "Thanks, Violet."

"That was right," Bastion added, grinning.

"I don't know who or what Temba is, but that was cool!" Violet replied.

"It was from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation," Bastion explained, flushing slightly. "This whole race of beings spoke using story references. And Annie and I thought we could do the same thing as a sort of code. So when we didn't want to let on things in the library, we used something so we wouldn't be incriminated."

"Ooh...that makes it even cooler!"

"Yeah, that is pretty cool. I didn't know you guys had that," Syrus added.

"We'll show you the episode sometime," Annie said.

"Or...we could make up our own code with what's happened here," Bastion suggested.

Violet blinked. "We can?"

"Violet, think of all that's happened at the academy. We could have references for success and failure that everyone in our group could know." Bastion grinned at the thought.

Violet scratched her head, then understood and grinned as well. "Oh, that's a great idea!"

"Okay...for epic failure...what's a good one?" Annie wondered.

"Jaden in Physics!" Jaden grinned, poking his head around the door.

The four teens laughed at that; Physics was probably Jaden's worst subject. "That's a good one, Jay," Violet said with a grin.

"I'm glad I dropped it," he grinned.

"You can't drop every class, slacker," Chazz smirked, sauntering in and not noticing the look Alexis was giving him.

"Chazz," Alexis growled warningly behind him as she and Atticus entered as well.

Annie groaned, knowing where this was going. "Chazz, his eyes closed," she muttered, referring to the fact that the raven-haired boy was about to get clobbered and was oblivious.

"You just don't do well, Jaden, 'cause you're not smart like me."

Alexis's fists were clenched at this point. "Chazz." She gave him one more chance to stop, her tone deadly.

"Chazz, his head in pain," Bastion added softly as Chazz smirked, "I mean, come on, you just aren't going to ace things, Jaden..."

"CHAZZ!!" Alexis yelled, delivering a swift punch to the black-haired boy's head.

"Jaden in Physics," the dark-haired Obelisk girl and the Ra genius said at the same time.

"That works," Jaden said, sweat-dropping and grinning sheepishly.

Violet blinked at Chazz on the floor, a large bump on his head. "Violet and a rock!" she stated brightly.

Everyone laughed. "Uh...did I miss something?" Zane asked, walking into the room behind the younger teens.

"Just practicing our new code, Zane," Syrus explained, grinning.

"Code?" Zane asked, a bit lost. So Annie explained quickly. "Oh, so...for high idiocy...Jaden and Harrington on the tennis court," the former Kaiser suggested, thinking of the sports nut who thought treating Alexis as property was a bright idea.

Alexis crossed her arms over her chest. "That labels what Chazz was just doing perfectly."

Chazz sat up. "What's a good one for pain?" he asked.

"Atticus singing in the shower," Alexis answered in seconds, smirking at her brother.

Atticus's jaw dropped. "HEY!!"

Everyone grinned sheepishly, having been subjected to Atticus's singing. "Rather than explore that," Bastion said, "I think we shall be better served praying for mercy..." Everyone sobered, knowing they were in deep trouble.

"You guys better not get expelled. Crowler put us in detention for an unfair reason," Violet said, frowning.

"If he tries, I'll call my lawyer," Aster said with a grim expression.

A few hours later, Annie was released from the infirmary, and the band of would-be rescuers headed down to the Chancellor's office to find out their fates. "This is worse than heading to Sister Mary Patrick's office," Annie groaned, thinking of one of her ex-principals.

"Sister who?" Syrus asked curiously.

"She was my principal at my old school, Sy," she answered. "She was a tough old nun."

"Well, you don't think Chancellor Shepherd will be too tough, do you? He's a pretty nice guy," Violet said.

"Yeah, but...we did something bad," Annie groaned.

Alexis sighed. "We broke a lot of rules..."

"Yes, and despite the fact that our school founder is an accomplished hacker, I doubt he'd look too kindly on us hacking into the school systems," Bastion sighed.

"Hey, come on, guys. We need to think positive. Maybe we won't get expelled," Atticus said.

"Yeah...I could take all the blame," Jaden offered softly.

"But Jaden, you were not the one who tried this," Rosa replied, frowning.

"Yeah, and it's my fault we crashed into Crowler and got detention in the first place," Violet added.

"But it doesn't matter. I should just take the blame..."

"Jaden...did you ask Annie and me to hack into the security system?" Bastion asked.

"No..."

"And did you ask Lexi and me to distract Dr. Crowler?" Atticus asked.

"No, but..." Jaden wasn't sure what to say.

"And did you ask Hassleberry and me to be lookouts?" Rosa asked.

"You didn't ask us, Sarge, Private Violet, Private Syrus, so we take the blame," Hassleberry soothed.

"But you guys follow what I do!" Jaden countered. "I don't want you guys kicked out for me..."

"Jaden, we're all close friends. If it was anyone else, you would have done the same thing if you think you had a chance at succeeding. Atty's right; we may not get kicked out," Alexis said encouragingly.

"I guess," Jaden sighed.

And then they were at the Chancellor's office. "Hello, everyone," Shepherd said, looking very serious. The group returned the greeting, everyone trying to be as polite as possible to maybe get on the principal's good side. Shepherd sighed. "I assume you all know why you're here?" There was a murmur of assent throughout the room.

"Because we broke a lot of rules..." Alexis added shame-facedly.

"You did," Shepherd answered. "We have conspiracy to take students out of detention, attempted sabotage of academy cameras, lying to instructors and misuse of academy equipment." An uncomfortable, tense silence filtered in amongst the teens. That was a lot of charges to face; even if they didn't get expelled, the punishment would be really bad. "However, Dr. Crowler informs me that the reason this occurred was because of an unfair punishment he himself inflicted upon three of your number," Shepherd continued, steepling his fingers.

Jaden, Violet, and Syrus all looked surprised by this. 'Dr. Crowler admitted that?' Syrus wondered in awe.

'He helped us?!' Violet thought, eyes wide.

Jaden's eyes widened in shock. Crowler really had changed if he had admitted such wrongdoing. "Sir?" he probed.

"Yes, Jaden, he admitted he was wrong. You know the concept of entering a courtroom with clean hands, don't you, son?"

"Yes, sir," he answered, still shocked.

'Crowler admitting he's wrong is about as rare as me getting Lexi to sing,' thought Atticus. The other teens had similar thoughts on Crowler's seemingly sudden change.

Sure, the group knew he'd changed, but this...this was extraordinary. "Uh...maybe I should explain that?" Jaden offered, and several jaws dropped. Hell had surely frozen over.

"Jay...you actually know more about this?" Alexis asked. Jaden was usually the last person to explain anything.

He nodded. "Yeah...my dad's a lawyer and I know about that stuff."

"Sokath, his eyes uncovered!" Annie said in awe, meaning that this was incredible.

"So...you knew Dr. Crowler had changed so much, Jay?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah," Jaden answered. "He did fight to keep Slifer...But anyway, since he did something bad today, he can't complain against you guys really..."

"Jay's right about that," Atty said, realizing that Crowler really had helped them.

"That tends to be used in civil court, Jaden," Chancellor Shepherd said, smiling a little. "And since we're at Duel Academy, we're under a slightly different jurisdiction."

"But, the fact that he made an unfair punishment counts for something, doesn't it, sir?" Alexis asked.

"Yes it does, Alexis, so what we're going to do is lessen your punishments, everyone." Annie shivered, thinking that they were sure to be suspended.

"Lessen?" Rosa probed. At least that didn't mean expulsion, but suspension was still an option. They all knew that.

"Yes, lessen, Rosa. That means you still get punished, but it won't be as bad as it could've been. It is therefore my judgment that those of you current students...What is it, Zane?" he asked when Zane raised his hand.

"Sir, I'll take the punishment along with them. I know I'm here because of your good graces and you could easily order me off the island." They all knew that Zane didn't have to point that out, but weren't surprised that he was ready to take punishment as well. They were all in this together, after all.

"So noted," Shepherd said calmly. "Anyway, all of you who were involved in the conspiracy will be doing laundry duty...And you who were in detention will have the detention lifted from your record." Everyone looked at each other, shocked.

"Sir..." Alexis finally managed to find her voice. "Laundry duty??" They weren't upset, everyone was just shocked that the punishment was lessened to such a low level.

"Laundry duty," Shepherd repeated. "And I should warn you that today is the day all of the gym uniforms are cleaned, as well as the jock straps."

Those charged with laundry duty visibly shivered, but it was still better than expulsion or suspension. "...Hooray! You guys aren't getting kicked off the island!" Violet finally cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"No, and I never thought I'd be so glad to do laundry," Bastion said, relieved.

"Even if it's going to be nasty, we get to stay at Duel Academy!" Atticus added with a broad grin.

"Yeah. I'm helping," Jaden said suddenly.

"Jaden...you can watch," Shepherd said. "Remember the last time you and Syrus had laundry duty?" Jaden flushed and sweat-dropped.

Syrus blushed too, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah...maybe we should just watch, Jay..."

"I'd help, but my mom banned me from ever touching a laundry machine again after...the incident," Violet added, sweat-dropping.

"Do we want to know?" Bastion wondered.

"Sarge, no offense, but you ain't doin' the laundry," Hassleberry grinned sheepishly.

"Let's just say our basement's never been the same," Violet answered.

"Sorry we can't help, guys," Syrus added.

"It's okay," Annie said. "At least we'll succeed at something today..."

"Hey, you guys had a great plan! At least you tried and almost succeeded," Violet said with a grin.

"Yeah, you guys did...uh..." Jaden wasn't sure how to compliment the gang.

"They did great," Shepherd grinned.

Every head in the group turned on the principal. "Uh, pardon?" Rosa asked. All of them were wondering the same thing; had Chancellor Shepherd just complimented their rescue attempt?!

"I was a teenager once, and furthermore, you all did what our school's co-founders did on more than one occasion," Shepherd answered. "But don't do it again."

A chorus of "Yes, sir!" answered him, the group still glad that they'd been let off from what could have been the worst punishment. And so the gang headed off to the laundry room, where several stinky uniforms awaited.

_An unrealistic ending, we'll admit, but we hope you enjoyed our tale of hilarious mishaps and metaphorical language. So until next time, we thank you and hope you read and review! See you again soon!_


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